“Many of them are disconnected from family,” she says, “and this gives them an assurance that they won’t have to start the school year without having their basic needs met.”

Philadelphia district attorney Seth Williams, who lived in two foster homes before he was adopted, spoke to the roomful of young people about their bright futures.

“The one thing no one can take from them is their education,” he said afterward. “They need to take this opportunity with the laptops and the resources they are going to have, and graduate. That’s the greatest crime-prevention tool that I have.”

Williams says high school dropouts are eight times more likely to end up in prison and 20 times more likely to become homicide victims.

“If I can do it, they can do much better than I did,” he says.

Sixty-three children in DHS’s “Achieving Independence Center” graduated from high school this year, and half of them will go on to college this fall.

The free backpacks and laptops all come from private donors including Five Below, American Signature Furniture, and the International Longshoremen’s Association.